HOWDY, MY NAME IS BILL STRONG, I'LL BE YOUR "24 HOUR MAN", ROUTING YOU INTO THE PAST TO SEE WHAT THE CIRCUS WAS IN DAYS GONE BY. IF YOU'RE LIKE ME, AND MISS WHAT IT USED TO BE, THEN COME ON ALONG AS WE GO DOWN THE ROAD FOLLOWING THE ARROWS BACKWARDS, TO "YESTERDAY'S TOWNS"!
IF YOU HAVE CIRCUS RELATED PICTURES YOU WOULD LIKE POSTED, SEND THEM TO,,,,yesterday1@verizon.net,,,,AND WE WILL TRY TO FIT THEM IN. "24 HOUR MAN" WILL HAVE THE FINAL DECISION ON POSTING.

About Me

Three years at CWM made me a real traditionalist, and I keep remembering Bob Parkinson saying, "I want the people to see what the circus used to be, not what it is today. That's what this site is about!

Sunday, May 13, 2007

CIRCUS VARGAS 1987: PROLOGUE

Forrest Gump sure was right about life being like a box of chocolates, and not knowing what you're going to get. In 1986 the show Trudy & I were with promised a season of 150 days, "maybe even 175", in the end it was 99, our disillusion with the show came long before knowing this, so when the chance came to make a decision for the future,it didn't take long to make it.

When the show had time off in Toronto, Trudy was booked to do one show at a Thoroughbred race track in,(get this), Winnipeg, Manitoba, ironically Circus Vargas was playing Winnipeg so we visited, this evidently started some wheels turning. Vargas made a jump to Toronto at the same time we made the return trip, and while they were there we met with Mr. Vargas and wound up signing a two year contract. We had heard some nightmare stories about Vargas jumps & were apprehensive, but ready for a full season's work for a change.

We spent 8 weeks in Winter Quarters where Trudy trained a Mixed Animal Act,(which I worked), then we did 44 weeks on the road doing less than 15,000 miles, went back to Quarters for 8 more weeks, and then did 45 weeks, again in less than 15,000 miles. We were more used to doing 45,000 miles in 15 weeks!!!!

We enjoyed being a part of Circus Vargas and there were no hard feelings when we left, someone convinced Mr. Vargas to take the Liberty Act Display in a different direction, & it just didn't include Trudy or Billy Baker, "That's Shobiz"!

THE PROGRAM:Once again the pictures in the program are sort of mix-matched so I decided to publish them in the order they come, with the exception of moving the line up ahead of Alan Gold.